Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova lost her French Open 2011 semifinal match against Li Na on Thursday, temporarily ending her campaign to become the 10th female tennis player to achieve a career Grand Slam – that is winning all four Grand Slam events. She already has an Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open titles.
Surprisingly, the Russian world number seven is not as devastated as expected with the loss. She said that she’s now looking forward to the grasscourt season, specifically the Wimbledon 2011 tournament. She got her first Grand Slam title in Wimbledon in 2004 as a 17-year-old. She also beat then-defending champion Serena Williams for the title.
“The whole summer swing of things, the warmup tournament and Wimbledon and then the summer swing in the US,” Sharapova said during the post match interview.
“It’s probably my favorite part of the season. I feel like I have a lot to look forward to,” she added.
The Russian star said that it would have been great to achieve a career Grand Slam but stressed that it is not her priority. After all, she’s still 24 and has a lot of tennis years ahead of her.
“Obviously it’s great that I have an opportunity to win all four. It didn’t happen this year, but it’s not for me that important,” she was quoted as saying.
